Friday, April 23, 2010

Bangkok Dangerous? Another Media Scare Story!

Don't believe anything you read in the Press or on-line about Bangkok being dangerous. It isn't. It's fine, so long as you stay away from the Silom area.

I'm a few miles from there and haven't seen a Red Shirt protestor or a soldier for days, other than a few soldiers at the airport.

I don't know why, but it now seems as if Governments, aided by a gullible media, want us to be in a continuous state of fear - terrorism, volcanic ash, swine flu, AIDS..blah blah blah. These days, I ignore 90 per cent of what I read in the Press and 100 per cent of what politicians say!

This from the Daily Telegraph -Governments around the world warned their citizens to avoid Thailand's capital Bangkok as deadly political violence paralysed the city centre on Friday.

London, Canberra and Washington also joined the UN in urging all sides to show restraint as riot police faced off against thousands of anti-government "Red Shirts" behind heavily fortified barricades.

Tensions in the long-running political standoff rose after five grenade blasts hit the area on Thursday night, leaving one Thai woman dead and scores wounded, including foreigners.

"There is a strong possibility of renewed violent clashes in Bangkok between demonstrators and security forces," Australia's foreign affairs department said, as it confirmed that an Australian was among the wounded. "We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to Thailand."

The United States also warned that more violence was possible."Due to escalating violence in central Bangkok, all US citizens should avoid non-essential travel to Bangkok," the State Department said, upgrading a travel alert issued two days earlier.

The State Department also urged travellers to exercise caution in provincial areas, warning that protesters could spread to other parts of the kingdom if dispersed in the capital.

London warned against all but essential travel to the Thai capital due to the "increasingly volatile" situation on the streets.

The Time In London

Stephen Leather has written more than 30 novels and is one of Amazon's most successful self-publishers. His eBook The Basement topped the Amazon eBook charts in the US and the UK. You can see more of Stephen Leather's work at www.stephenleather.com